William Penn Opens Season at Mount Mercy
William Penn University Athletics
Marion–A brand-new Statesmen men’s golf team had a rough beginning to its fall campaign as it competed at the Mount Mercy Cropper Classic Saturday and Sunday.
William Penn placed 18th out of 19 teams at the par-72 Hunters Ridge Golf Course with a two-day tally of 659 (337-322). AIB was the lone school to break 300 on both days (299-298–597) and slipped past Illinois Wesleyan by two shots for the crown.
Viterbo’s Bennett Laxton was the tournament medalist with a two-under-par 142 (72-70). He won a one-hole playoff with Mount Mercy’s Ryan Schrimper (69-73) to take the top honor.
Tyler Lallier (Jr., Algona, Iowa, Business Management) paced the navy and gold by tying for 69th out of 113 players with a score of 163 (79-84).
Jeremy Swink (Jr., Burlington, Iowa, Education), a junior college transfer like Lallier, was next for WPU in a tie for 81st at 165 (86-79), while Jeremy White (Fr., Baytown, Texas, Mechanical Engineering) notched a pair of 83s to tie for 83rd at 166.
Kyle Hashimoto (Fr., Acampo, Calif., Undecided), in a tie for 89th at 168 (90-78), and Charlie Hayes (Fr., Whitesboro, Texas, History/Government), in a tie for 99th at 171 (89-82), rounded out the team scoring.
Chris Dupont (Fr., Miami, Fla., Physical Education) played as an individual and actually had the best score of any Statesmen linkster. The freshman tied for 52nd at 160 (79-81).
“We are disappointed with how we played,” Head Coach Steve Tucker said. “All of our guys were representing William Penn for the first time or playing in a collegiate tournament for the first time, so they were admittedly anxious and I know that played into some of our mistakes. We are glad to get this first tournament under our belts and we will learn from this.”
“It was nice to improve on the second day, but we are much better than our scores represent,” Tucker said. “We will get back to work on Monday and try to do better next time out.”
Next: William Penn travels to Lenexa, Kan. next Sunday and the following Monday for the Baker Invitational at Falcon Ridge Golf Course.
